


For Just a Moment

by Morrigan21



Category: Penny Dreadful (TV)
Genre: F/M, Poe Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 12:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8400922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morrigan21/pseuds/Morrigan21
Summary: Vanessa enjoys a bit of reading at her afternoon tea and is pleasantly surprised by a visit from her suitor, Doctor Sweet.
*This is part of the Poe Challenge for All Fandoms Fanfiction and Original Fiction Writers Group. The poem text is from Edgar Allan Poe's poem titled "Alone".





	

Vanessa blew gently on her tea before bringing the delicate china to her lips. The café bustle was dwindling as the lunch crowd thinned out. She took advantage of the break and pulled out the small stack of books from her bag. Thumbing through the collection, she opened up the cover to one of the smaller poetical volumes. The manly scrawl gave her pause and she ran her fingers over the words: 

_Dear Miss Ives,_  
_I’ve heard many good things about Poe. Poetry isn’t my strong suit and he seems rather melancholy for my tastes, but I thought you might appreciate these more than I._  
_Yours,_  
_Ethan_

“Ethan…” she sighed with a heavy heart and flipped open to another page. Lifting the ribbon marker, she read the opening lines to the next poem – very simply titled Alone. “How fitting,” Vanessa muttered.

> From childhood’s hour I have not been  
>  As others were – I have not seen  
>  As others saw – I could not bring  
>  My passions from a common spring  
>  ____
> 
> From the same source I have not taken  
>  My sorrow – I could not awaken  
>  My heart to joy at the same tone –  
>  And all I lov’d – I lov’d alone –

The words held an air of truth to them – as if Vanessa herself might have written them. Taking another sip from the steaming cup, she engrossed herself in the reading of the poem, until at last she came to the final lines.

> From the thunder, and the storm –  
>  And the cloud that took the form  
>  (When the rest of Heaven was blue)  
>  Of a demon in my view – 

“Miss Ives.” The voice pulled her from her reverie and her head snapped up. 

“Doctor Sweet,” Vanessa smiled and closed the cover to the book. “What a pleasant surprise. Will you join me?”

Alexander’s dark eyes glinted with a bit of guilt behind them. “I must confess, this isn’t entirely by accident. You mentioned this café the other night, so I thought I might take a chance.”

“I’m glad you did.” Vanessa felt her heart leap in her chest. She had worried that her bold attempt at courtship had put him off – yet here he was. Hope dangled before her, perhaps she wasn’t as alone as she had thought. “Please–” she indicated the chair across from her.

“Yes, thank you.” Sweet gave her an endearingly awkward smile and sat down. “I fear I’ve interrupted your reading.” He gestured to the stack of books. 

“Oh”-Vanessa shook her head-“I’m afraid it’s far less exciting than your creatures, but I do quite enjoy poetry.”

He leaned over the table enough to read the author and title. “Edgar Allan Poe.” The doctor inclined his head slightly. 

“Do you know of him?” Vanessa’s expression brightened. 

Sweet’s eyebrows shot up. “Yes, I’m familiar with his work.”

“Really?” She lifted the pot of tea in the middle of the table and offered it to him. “I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never read him before. I suppose I assumed that he was a rather droll American.”

Alexander graciously accepted her offer and moved one of the clean tea cups closer so that she could pour. “Droll?” His laugh was jovial and it pushed Vanessa’s smile even wider. “He has a rather hellish imagination I would say. Although, I’m much more familiar with his stories than his poems.”

Vanessa set down the tea pot and leaned closer as if conveying a secret. “Do tell me then, Doctor, what is your favorite story and I shall promise to read it next.”

“That is a dangerous promise, Miss Ives.” Alexander stirred some cream into his cup and gently tapped the spoon against the rim. “Hmmm….I’d have to say that I quite enjoyed _The Masque of the Red Death_ , but I fear it is a rather unhappy tale. You may want to take back that promise.” He lifted the cup to his lips and smiled at her before taking a sip.

“I would never!” Vanessa laughed. It felt foreign and so natural at the same time. An expression of mirth over a dismal topic. “What is it about?”

“Oh, no”-Sweet shook his head-“that would spoil the fun of you experiencing it for the first time. I’d hate to spoil the surprise.”

“Not even a hint?” she teased. “Is there a fantastical creature involved?”

Sweet smirked. “There is a creature…of sorts,” he paused and considered something for a moment, “and a clock.”

“Ooh…the plot thickens!” 

They laughed together and Vanessa felt the weight of it all lift – if only for a moment. A moment between the doctor and herself in which she felt like a normal woman on the precipice of falling in love. She wondered to herself if it could be – if she could allow herself the luxury of loving this man. It felt dangerous and delicious and she reveled in it. She admired his kind smile and the upward brush of his dark hair, the dark shadow his beard cast against his cheeks. Then something caught his eye and drew him away from their moment. 

Vanessa turned her head to see what he’d noticed out the window behind her. 

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized. “I almost forgot that I have a special lecture that I must attend to.” 

She returned her gaze to him, unable to see what had actually drawn his attention. “Of course.” Her smile was more tentative this time. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your duties.”

“But it is a credit to the pleasure of your company that I nearly lost track of those duties.” He took her hand in his and placed a gentle kiss over the back of it. “I shall call on you again soon, Miss Ives.”

She nodded and watched him hurry away – yet again. Flipping through the books, she found the one that contained _The Masque of the Red Death_ and began to read. In the back of her mind she thought how it seemed an odd choice as a favorite, but soon lost herself in the story.


End file.
